The Breaking Point
by imsuchanut
Summary: They made it out of Canary Wharf, but have they made their moves? It's the Doctor and Rose, so of course not. She thinks it can never happen, and he's always been worried about their lifespans. But everything has a breaking point, has the Doctor reached his?


**A/N: This is set after Doomsday, but the Doctor and Rose made it out. Pete decided to come to their universe, and the Stuff of Legends went back to the TARDIS.**

**Shoutout to Skyler-Reese for her incredible support on everything! Check her out, guys.**

They were curled up together on the seat in the console room. Rose had her arms wrapped around his middle; The Doctor had one of his around her waist while the other hand stroked her hair. It was a calm Thursday evening, and the pair sat in silence as they had been for the past five minutes. It was peaceful, not awkward.

The Doctor was wondering once again how he could ever have been graced with Rose. He really didn't deserve her; he was a murderer and he couldn't give her what she deserved. But she still loved him anyways. Obviously he felt that and more for her, but that really wasn't so hard to believe. Rose Tyler was amazing, full of compassion, and clever. He was just a madman in a box.

At first he didn't think that she _could_ ever love him, back when he had big ears and a daft face. Then, he didn't believe she ever _would_ love him, with her parade of pretty boys. But after Satellite Five, he knew that she felt the same.

And that was what scared him.

She, Rose Tyler, loved him. The Doctor. The destroyer of his people, the Oncoming Storm. She was a companion, a human one at that. He didn't want the inevitable heartache that would follow her death, so he tried to create distance between them.

He invited Mickey on board.

He took them to France.

He tried to dismiss the idea of them sharing a mortgage.

But the Battle of Canary Wharf came, and along with it her father. Suddenly, she could have a full family again, and he was not going to deprive her of that, too. He already stole her away from her mum, and he thought that decades later she would regret not having her dad.

He was wrong.

She loved him so very much, that she was willing to say goodbye to her family forever. And that force of love convinced the Doctor to let her stay, because he knew that power, felt it for her. And her mum and dad could see it too, so they stayed. Rose, the Doctor, and Pete hung onto the clamps, whilst Jackie stayed to make sure nothing would go wrong. It was a good thing too, because when one of the Daleks hit a lever it went offline, and Jackie fixed it.

But instead of going with them after the battle, Rose stayed with him again.

Good thing too, because just her name kept him fighting. Her presence gave him the strength to do anything.

After that, he knew their feelings weren't going to be hidden anymore. But in true Doctor and Rose fashion, they never voiced their emotions. Quite a lot of communications issues, them. Instead, as soon as the Void closed, the Doctor just pulled Rose to him and kissed her, trying to pour the depth of his love into it. They stood in the middle of the white room, arms tangled and lips twisting until Jackie happened.

The she-demon wrenched them apart, and slapped the Doctor for "lip-shagging my daughter, you good-for-nothing alien! And if that wasn't the worst, you had to do it in front of me! I am her mother, and you will wait until you two go back to your blue box to do that nonsense." The Doctor was still reeling from the kiss, and so he didn't really notice anything Jackie said or did.

But despite the passionate snog, they still didn't do anything about their relationship. The duo went back to the TARDIS and slept, separately, and went back to traipsing through the universe the very next morning.

For the next ten days, they visited resort planets, visited Rose's parents, and went shopping. Overall, it was typical of them. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that they clung onto each other a bit tighter now.

They were together, yes. But were they together? No.

They knew the feelings they shared for one another, but they didn't voice them, or act upon them.

Which brought them to where they were now. Ten days after the Battle of Canary Wharf, they were cuddled up in the jump seat. The Doctor decided that he had had enough, and he was going to do something about it.

Last time though, he was all action and no talk, which didn't do anything for their current relationship status. This time, he was going to talk first. Of course, he didn't have a plan. He had just finally his his breaking point. This course of action was completely spontaneous, he only decided to do it when he realized he was subconsciously stroking Rose's hair, and he realized he would quite like to do it someplace else.

Like his bedroom.

On his bed.

Without any clothes.

Several hours later.

So, he opened his big mouth. "Rose, I love you" Instead of making some great big reaction, or kissing him liked he considered a possibility (_hopedwishdesiredsoverymuch_) she replied very simply.

"I know."

"I un-wait, you know? That's all you have to say to that?" She looked up at him, confused as to why he was reacting this way.

"Yeah," she said slowly, "I know you love me. We've been travelling together for years, and it was kind of obvious. Even the Daleks knew." She gave him the "duh" look, and he still couldn't believe she was reacting like this.

"Well yes, I know, but that's all you have to say? Really? I just poured out emotion, and you act like this is completely normal!" He was put out now, he was expecting more.

"You just said I love you! I already knew that, so I would hardly count that as pouring out emotion. You show me you love me every day; by giving me all this!"

"Rose Tyler, I would hardly count saying 'I love you' as something worthy of a just in front of it. I love you also means I love you more than anyone loves you, or has loved you, or will love you!" She stared at him, not believing that he had just actually said that. It was utterly romantic, yes, but that did not sound like him.

The Doctor rubbed his neck at Rose's look, knowing she realized that wasn't his. "Right, so Jonathan Foer actually said that, but the point still stands!" Rose merely sighed.

"Look, Doctor, I get that, I really do. And you know I feel the same. I'm glad we finally cleared our feelings at least, but we already knew them. And it's not going to do anything, I know we can't ever be together." Her voice broke at the last few words, a change from the stronger tones she started out with.

The Doctor knew it was his fault. He stressed the importance of their separate lifespans so hard that she seemed to give up all hope of their actual being together. He was willing to go through the pain, but was she willing to do it to him?

"Rose, do you want us to be together?" His voice was soft, and barely above a whisper.

"Don't…don't do that to me." She sounded broken, and his heart broke.

"Don't do what?"

"Don't make me feel pressured to give an answer, to say yes when I know it could never happen, or no when we know how we feel. I'm happy with the life we have, and I don't want to ruin us by you thinking I'm constantly expecting a relationship, when I know you can't do that. You don't do domestic, and you're going to outlive me by centuries."

"And that where you're very, very wrong. Because Rose Tyler, I can do that, and by Rassilon I'm going to. I have met my breaking point! I'm sick and tired of us always skating around each other, this needs to be done. And I will do my damn hardest to make our time together longer, I won't let you leave me for as long as I can. For once I'm going to do something that makes me happy!"

And so he kissed her.

This kiss, like the last one, conveyed his love, but it wasn't just that. It was full of promise, need, and it was what both of them needed.

The next morning found the Doctor living out his daydream from the day before. Rose Tyler was in his bed, not wearing anything, and he was stroking her hair. He smiled to himself, thinking of the events of the night before. They really were the stuff of legends.

And this wonderful, amazing feeling wasn't going to stop here. He was going to do everything in his power to make her time with him last much longer that it was supposed to. He was never going to stop searching for a way to never let her leave him.

Because she was his Rose, and he was her Doctor.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! And if you enjoyed it, pretty please review? It's like fuel to my writing car.**

**If you have any prompts, please send them! I love to do them and I'm always open for ideas.**


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